Let's have a western animation thread

[flamepanther]

This might make me "lame user of the day," but I have absolutely no idea what Jem is. Been hearing the name thrown around an awful lot lately, though.

Never heard of Jem? That is truly, truly, truly outrageous.

It started as a line of music-themed fashion dolls for girls, made by Hasbro. However, Hasbro hired the same creative team of Marvel, Sunbow, and Toei that created the TransFormers and G.I. Joe TV sensations to handle the show. If you like those sort of '80s adventure shows, Jem has a lot of "guilty pleasure" potential--it has a lot of the same charming qualities (minus most of the violence), but it's the "girly" version. Many males of my generation were forced by their little sisters to watch it, and discovered that it was not entirely intolerable. It was also surprisingly adult for a show aimed at pre-teen girls.

[pakopako]

This might make me "lame user of the day," but I have absolutely no idea what Jem is. Been hearing the name thrown around an awful lot lately, though.

Never heard of Jem? That is truly, truly, truly outrageous.

Not sure whether to :facepalm: or

It started as a line of music-themed fashion dolls for girls, made by Hasbro.

Actually, wasn't it the other way around? The original writers who were established writers on the other Hasbro were initially hired to put forth Jem as this "Hollywood" show (shoe-horning it with other short action shows like Bigfoot)... and then it started shifting toward fashion when the dolls began rolling out?

It was also surprisingly adult for a show aimed at pre-teen girls.

It was a soap-opera. But animated! (Kinda like the goofy WWF cartoon at the time, which was still using Cold War storylines the WWF was using.)

[flamepanther]

Actually, wasn't it the other way around? The original writers who were established writers on the other Hasbro were initially hired to put forth Jem as this "Hollywood" show (shoe-horning it with other short action shows like Bigfoot)... and then it started shifting toward fashion when the dolls began rolling out?

For a start, you mistake my meaning:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fashion_doll

A "fashion doll" is toy-speak for any Barbie-like dress-up doll, as opposed to something like a baby doll.


As a rule though, the toys for any Hasbro show are already at least in prototype stages before the show is ever written or designed, even in cases where the show starts before the toys are on store shelves (current example, TransFormers: Prime). This includes TransFormers, G.I. Joe, and Jem. The few exceptions I'm aware of are the TransFormers theatrical movies, live-action and otherwise.

http://www.rockjem.com/jemstory.html

[Gamerforlife]

Well, since we're talking western animation in this thread, I watched Tangled. I really enjoyed it. Quality stuff, though I almost feel like the movie would have been just as enjoyable without the musical stuff

[Erik_Twice]

Well, since we're talking western animation in this thread, I watched Tangled. I really enjoyed it. Quality stuff, though I almost feel like the movie would have been just as enjoyable without the musical stuff

Have to say, I found it bland. Bland plot, bland characters, bland songs, bland gags. Most of the movie is just average, in my opinion.


However, the credits were great, why not make the movie in that style?

Ah, because 2D and specially stilized 2D doesn't fly anymore.

[MrPopo]

Ah, because 2D and specially stilized 2D doesn't fly anymore.

Frog Princess.

[Stark]

Ah, because 2D and specially stilized 2D doesn't fly anymore.

Frog Princess.

All of what General_Norris said about Tangled applies to The Princess and the Frog. I liked Tangled. It wasn't classic Disney good, but I really liked it.

[Gamerforlife]

Ah, because 2D and specially stilized 2D doesn't fly anymore.

Frog Princess.

All of what General_Norris said about Tangled applies to The Princess and the Frog. I liked Tangled. It wasn't classic Disney good, but I really liked it.

Yeah, I thought it was great. It was a visually beautiful movie. Most of the jokes hit home with me. The horse especially was hilarious. I love when Flynn is dueling him with a frying pan and says, "This is the strangest thing I've ever done". That was funny. I love when a movie can poke fun at its own absurdity.

Plus, it's got Zachari Levi voicing Flynn/Eugene so it gets bonus points for that. I'm a big fan of the guy. He's every bit as cool in real life as his character on the show Chuck. You'd think they based Chuck completely on his real life personality because I listened to an interview with him where it was like they were basically talking to Chuck. It was uncanny

[pakopako]

For a start, you mistake my meaning... A "fashion doll" is toy-speak for any Barbie-like dress-up doll, as opposed to something like a baby doll.

Oh no, I did understand. I just thought the toyline came after the animated series' first season rather than earlier/simultaneously. (Why is it when I look back at my posts the next day, it feels like someone else was driving my keyboard?)

Then again, looking at The Story Behind Jem, I might have just been reading the catalogs (for 1985-1986) when the show began airing (1985). That site is great, not only as an interview with a member of creative, but to see writers who want to do more with their material than shill merchandise actually succeed in achieving their mark on the world.

Plus, it's got Zachari Levi voicing Flynn/Eugene so it gets bonus points for that. I'm a big fan of the guy. He's every bit as cool in real life as his character on the show Chuck. You'd think they based Chuck completely on his real life personality because I listened to an interview with him where it was like they were basically talking to Chuck. It was uncanny

I actually don't like him as Chuck, if simply because I think he has more range than the show's recent season currently provides him. (I've seen him in that short with Tony Hale where he plays the uppity boss very well.)

[flamepanther]

For a start, you mistake my meaning... A "fashion doll" is toy-speak for any Barbie-like dress-up doll, as opposed to something like a baby doll.

Oh no, I did understand. I just thought the toyline came after the animated series' first season rather than earlier/simultaneously. (Why is it when I look back at my posts the next day, it feels like someone else was driving my keyboard?)

Then again, looking at The Story Behind Jem, I might have just been reading the catalogs (for 1985-1986) when the show began airing (1985). That site is great, not only as an interview with a member of creative, but to see writers who want to do more with their material than shill merchandise actually succeed in achieving their mark on the world.

Fair enough. Even if the show had been released before the toys though, it would have been a safe bet that the toys started development before the show. I can think of at least one case (Transformers: Prime) where the show came out way before the toys--in fact they still aren't released at retail yet. The Prime toys have been ready for some time now, but the focus is still on selling Dark of The Moon toys for now. I can also think of one case where the show started development much earlier than usual in the toy development process. The show for Transformers: Beast Machines started development so early that the character designs were based on rough concept sketches of the toys rather than the actual toys, or even prototypes. That was part of the reason the show designs often looked nothing like the final toys. Even then, the toys were at least in the design phase beforehand.

I think the creative teams behind most of the toy+show brands that have endured from the 1980s were trying to do more than just advertise toys. It's unlikely that any of them would have had the same charm otherwise. Jem was really a stand out example of this, though.